378/So You're Interested in Capes...

From Heroes Assemble MUSH
Jump to navigation Jump to search
So You're Interested in Capes...
Date of Scene: 09 March 2020
Location: Classroom - Happy Harbor High School
Synopsis: Colette and Sanjeev take a study group with Alton, Christine, Sam, Vivian and M'gann. Only two of them suffer psychological trauma.
Cast of Characters: Colette O'Connail, M'gann M'orzz, Samuel Morgan, Christine Lake, Alton Schmidt, Vivian Vision, Sanjeev Bassi




Colette O'Connail has posed:
    It's not surprising that there's a lot of interest in the superhero phenomenon at Happy Harbor. It's the case at most schools to be honest, but the student body at Happy Harbor certainly has a larger proportion of students with a more /personal/ interest in the subject. It's therefore not that surprising that when given free reign on an essay, quite a few would pick that subject.

    Those that have find themselves called into a classroom for a special session. Some might find this a terrible imposition - isn't there enough work to do already? Others might be excited at the opportunity to spend a lesson talking about their favorite subject. The slacker contingency might be enthused to learn the group is being taken by a TA. Not even a real teacher! Surely this is scope for shenanigans.

    This last notion is quickly addressed. "Siddown and shut up!" The words leave Colette O'Connail's before she's more than half way through the door. Maybe nobody was even talking, she didn't wait to find out. "Hello everyone. I'm Miss O'Connail. Yes, I'm a TA. No, that doesn't mean you can get away with slacking off and causing trouble. Feel free to test me on that if you like, if you're in any doubt, I do have the power to give out detentions, and I'm quite happy giving out extra homework." Glare. "On the other hand you're all here to work on a subject you actually chose, so I'm gonna assume you have an /interest/ in being here." Glare disappears. "So! Let's have an interesting and fun session."

    "Superheroes! Wandering around saving the world like they've got nothing better to do. Apparently you're all planning an essay on them. Right, we'll start with everyone introducing themselves to the group, and saying a few words on why the subject interests them. Who's up first? You." She points to...

M'gann M'orzz has posed:
     In terms of knowledge of Terran superheroes, that's one area where Megan isn't far behind at all. They get a /lot/ of airtime, as do various documentaries about them. She's definitely not about to draw trouble upon herself, so she's radiating a slight 'I'm not that important' vibe. Which only makes things even more awkward when said vibe bounces off the teacher's psi shields, ones that are better than her own and not something she'd run into on any other human. "Oh! Uh... I'm Megan Morse, and I'm researching why so many extra-terrestrial species visitors choose to become heroes."

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    Essays. Honestly? It's a phenomenon Sam hasn't run into for quite some time, and when he is told he /must/ do an essay to fulfill his personal educational plan, there really was only one subject he was going to choose. And after the events of the last two days, he's pretty happy that he had the foresight to choose a topic that seemed to be eternally relevant. Super heroes... caped crusaders for justice or dangerous vigilantes? An essay that is going to contain foot notes, bibliography and at least one section on the methodology chosen to defend his conclusions. In short, Sam isn't planning an essay, he's planning a dissertation. Should have a few hours open for that in his schedule.

    When the TA comes through the door, Sam is sitting down and paying attention to his surroundings. He's the picture of the perfect student, with the exception of the German Shepherd laying down next to his seat. It's said that Sam doesn't go anywhere without Bear, to the point where rumors have begun that the friendly canine is in fact a guard dog, and the teenager is in fact some kind of aloof heir that needs to worry about kidnapping. Either that or they're both werewolves, the jury was still out on that.

    When he gets pointed at, he stands, hands clasped behind his back. "Samuel Alexander Morgan. It is my opinion that many heroes of this age have let their own power corrupt their judgment, and frequently break the law or commit violations of human rights in the pursuit of their own version of true justice." Yeah, he's going to be /that/ guy.

Christine Lake has posed:
Looking around, Christine realizes it's her turn. So, she stands up for the impromptu presentation. "Hi. I'm Christine Lake. Some of you already know me." She gives a slight wave to the folks she knows. Now, for the hard part of explaining why she's interested, without openly admitting things. "So, I'm interested in superheroes becasue...a new friend of mine said, there's plenty of people already trying to break the world; there needs to be more people trying to fix it. And I think that's what the heroes are trying to do, help keep things running. Or at least from getting worse. When you have power, it's easy to just take what you want, especially from people that don't have power. It takes someone special to stand up and say, "I'm going to help people instead of taking from them." She smiles a bit and shrugs. "Powers or not, it takes special people to try and heal the world." Then, she returns to her seat.

Alton Schmidt has posed:
Alton...is not one who wishes to write essays. He wishes to stop bank robbers with his own two hands and pertinent magnetic fields. Still, if he must write them, he should write them about a topic he finds interesting...and those who came before should probably be on the to do list. Well. That's going be different than. The question is, who to write about? He could write about Magneto, the late leader of Genosha...but, perhaps that's too obvious. He could write about Cap, or even Tony, given the latter is running for president. Hmmmm. Who else could he write about?

"Ultimately, it's about a choice. If you have gifts, you can use them to save or kill, heal or destroy. The mightiest of heroes tend to be more powerful than any given army. And yet, they choose to use that power to protect this world from devasation. There is much to respect about that." Wasn't he supposed to give his name? Oh, yeah. "Alton Schmidt."

Vivian Vision has posed:
Despite it not being Wednesday Vivian has decided to go with the school uniform. After all her non-uniform clothing amounts to several sets of the same exact clothing and it saves her time thinking up new variations on holographic disguises. Speaking of which she's currently masking her synthezoid nature with a simple disguise. Her skin has a caucasian overlay and while her hair is still green she's added some variation to make it seem like it's been dyed rather than naturally green.

When she finally stands up Viv there's an air of distraction about her. The technopathically sensative can likely tell she's split her attention into a dozen portions, most of which are learning online chess at a rather terrifying rate. To everyone else? She's probably daydreaming about something out the window.. "I'm Vivian and I suppose I am writing an article about superheroes..." She pauses, then shrugs. "If I had to pick a single reason it would be my twin brother was killed by a supervillain."

Colette O'Connail has posed:
    Colette gives Christine a smile. "Good answer, Christine. And I think you may have answered Megan's question too. " She looks over at M'gann with a nod. "Not all extra-terrestrial visitors are particularly equipped to, as Christine said, 'try to heal the world.' Those that are, find themselves in a unique position. To them, when they arrive it is humankind that is alien. But it's also the Earth that will be their new home. They may be refugees, they may just be settlers, but either way they are going to have a strong need to fit in. To become part of human society. What better way to become accepted, than to prove your worth to that society? You may want to research the history of European refugees in New York in the 19th century. Amidst a great deal of deprivation and poverty, a surprising number of them sought ways to help their fellows. Setting up soup kitchens, free hospitals, things like that."

    "Alton. You raise an interesting point. Why is it, do you suppose, that some chose one path and some chose another? Certainly not all do elect to protect the world, there are others who chose to help only themselves. Do you think the primary responsibility of those individuals with power who do chose to protect the world is to stop those of their cohort who try to harm it? Or do we, as a nation, and as a planet, need some kind of policy for dealing with superpowers that we haven't really got yet?"

    "Vivian. I'm sorry to hear that." Colette gives Vivian a nod. "I understand if this is a hard topic for you to discuss, and it's brave of you to try to tackle it like this. If you feel a need to be excused from this group, just say so. It will be understandable. However I'm sure the views of your fellow students will be informative."

    She has an answer for everyone, but Samuel's been left for last. "Samuel." She turns her eyes to /that/ guy. "Unconventional answer. Intelligent one, too. Well done. I suspect you have already thought about this and have some solutions in mind. Would you like to share them with the group?"

M'gann M'orzz has posed:
     Megan winces at Viv's loss, shooting the other girl an empathetic glance. It's still as if her classmate wasn't there at all psychically, but... She's a person anyway, one who's been through pain. "Thank you, I'll definitely look into that." Samuel, however, just gets a bit of a dirty look before the redhead schools her expression again. Nobody needs to know that he insulted her uncle. This has reduced his status in her opinion, although Bear still keeps him in the positives.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "My condolences." It's the first thing Sam says, before even starting his reasoning. Oddly enough, despite Bear's inclination to help people who are sad, distraught or in any other way not completely happy, the Shepherd seems to have a complete blank spot for Vivian. "But it's sadly something that happens a lot." Which, of course, leads him into his argument.

    "When a group appears in the world that is trying to make it a better place, be that through skill or ability, we always welcome them with open arms. Doctors. Scientists. Nurses. Social workers. Engineers. But all those people have one thing in common. They are either licensed to do what they do, or they've gone through years of study to be the best they can be at what they do. At the least, they strive to not be actively dangerous to anyone else while trying to help them, while trying to improve the world." He looks around, catching glances and trying to read the room, even as he continues in an even voice that seems used to public speaking. "Whenever we trust someone with a task that is both critical and potentially dangerous, we expect them to be educated about that task, and that this education and their ability has been reviewed. We also expect them to be liable for their mistakes. Now, don't misunderstand me. There are many heroes that take this to heart. There are a great many heroes that make the world a better place. Superman, for one. Captain America, certainly. They sacrificed themselves so as not to harm others. They understood that with their power came a duty, a responsibility."

    Does he have a point? You bet he does. "Why then, is there no way for those who are skilled, those who are gifted and those who are powerful... why is there no path for them to be educated in how to be the best hero they can be?"

Christine Lake has posed:
Christine gives a sympathetic look at Vivan, giving the girl a nod. Returning to the topic at hand, she says, "I suppose it's all a matter of one's personal perspective. If you're raised to believe that we all have a duty to each other, the Golden Rule or whatever, then using powers to help others is something that comes natural. If you're raised in a way that power means you deserve what you can take, then you're not going to be as concerned about helping u=others as you will be about helping yourself. It's selflessness versus selfishness." She does give Sam a slightly strange look; after all, he was the friend that talked about fixing the world.

Sanjeev Bassi has posed:
    The class is slightly interrupted by the door opening partially and closing as a figure slips into the room. There is a poise to the handsome young Indian man's gait and even though he doesn't appear to be more than a couple years older than the students here, the quality of the well-pressed sky blue collared shirt and the dark navy suit jacket worn on his torso along with a pair of Italian leather shoes are testament to the fact that he is likely not a TA like Colette.

    Though it had only been a couple days since he was hired onto the school's faculty as a guest lecturer due to his background as a researcher on the pinnacle of dimensional theory (although, most of the students and staff didn't know why someone with credentials that high would be in Happy Harbor of all places), Sanjeev was already the subject many rumors and speculation as well as the classic strange crushes from high school girls. After all, he was a professor who was actually quite close to their age. It was an aspect to the teaching position that Dr. MacIntyre had not mentioned to him during their interview, nor was it one that he had been prepared for. Thankfully, none of them had directly approached him as yet.

    Waving an apology to Colette for interrupting her lecture, he pulled up a chair and sat off to the side to observe, crossing the ankle of one leg on the knee of his other and folding his hands in his lap. Although his lectures involved a little less participation than most classes, it always helped to take a look at other teaching styles since he was more of a scientist than a teacher.

Alton Schmidt has posed:
Policy? Alton thinks for a moment, and, "Yeeeeah. Policy. Wait, I got one. They should let heroes testify in court under their heroic ID. Nobody wants to risk their family to throw the bad guys in jail. But the court still needs the evidence heroes provide to convinct people. Many crimimals avoid prison because the primary person with evidence isn't currently allowed to testify."

But then, Vivian mentions her brother being killed, and..."Who did it? Which of the bad guys was it?" Cause Alton just might keep an eye out for the bastard next time he chooses to patrol in New York.

Vivian Vision has posed:
Viv doesn't seem especially upset as she sits back down. In fact her classmates seem to be displaying more open emotion than she is about the situation. "It's okay," she assures. "I wouldn't have brought it up unless I was comfortable speaking about it." She shrugs at Alton and picks up a pencil and idly doodles in the margin of her notebook without really looking at what she's doing. "He's dead too."

"Personally I feel like your plan has very flawed logic Samuel. For a start the idea of medical qualifications only began around five hundred years back and insurance concerns mean that even when someone is trained they can be blocked from helping by fear of the legal repurcussions." Her doodling seems to be taking the form of chess pieces, ranked in order of importance down the notebook margins. "And the introduction of state sanctioned super training initiatives would inevitably lead to an arms race between nations that would rival the hight of the cold war."

Colette O'Connail has posed:
    Colette gives Sanjeev a quick wave before returning her attention to the class. They're the same age, neither of them exactly experienced in educating. There's a hint of staff laziness about this. Stick the two newbies together, maybe they can learn a bit from each other. If Colette is bothered by this though, she doesn't show it.

     She leans back in her chair, tilting it on the back legs. It's not something teachers normally do, and this quickly occurs to Colette. She leans the chair forwards with a snap of the feet on the ground, and stands up to cover her action. "It seems we have an odd man out in this group," she says, moving to the front of the desk and leaning against it. "Is Samuel a realist in a sea of idealists, or a just a cynic who gets away with it because he has a cool dog?" She asks, grinning at Sam a little. "Maybe it's a bit of both. Alton, I'm sure Samuel could explain in great depth how testifying anonymously would raise huge problems, so what /is/ the answer here? Thought experiment time."

    Colette lets her gaze pass from student to student. "Let's just say, hypothetically, that all of you had some kind of superpower. Before anyone says anything, yes I'm aware of the rumors going around, no I'm not going to confirm or deny anything, and if it /were/ true, I am sure there would be a rule in place about people keeping things quiet. We are talking hypotheticals. How many of you would feel driven to become heroes? And if so, how many of you would like there to be some kind of... well, formal qualifications, maybe? Would you worry that, as Vivian suggests, it would lead to an arms race? And what other issues do you think such an arrangement would raise?"

M'gann M'orzz has posed:
5t "Vivian has a point. Captain America and Red Skull were both created from the same project in an attempt to manufacture metahumans for the war effort. Making it so the only way for someone to use their powers for good is to put themselves on government lists, and risk retaliation against their families if the database of information ever got leaked? Governments don't have the best cybersecurity." Megan shakes her head slowly. "Training is good, but people shouldn't be forced to unmask. Even better if there's other benefits to the training, like getting to use testing facilities, help with costumes..."

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    When the door opens, Sam looks at who enters. It's an automatic reaction, and this time his threat assessment doesn't take long at all. He'd had time to do one on this particular subject yesterday. He nods to the teacher. "Mister Bassi." and then lets it go. In fact, he motions towards Alton. "And that is a very valid point. The legal framework surrounding heroism and heroes is still lacking. To use a simile, the world has moved on to MRI scanners and microsurgery, but the law around heroes is still stuck in the age of barber-surgeons. Allow me to elaborate on that point." Read, he's going to elaborate on this point. Even as he nods to Vivian to acknowledge her input. "Exactly."

    These two seemingly mutually contradictory points in mind, the teenager orders his thoughts for a moment or two before going on. "As Vivian pointed out, medical professionals as we know them today, as we trust them today, only happened because they organised. They not only understood that there were unsafe practices which was undermining public confidence in their profession, but they also understood that nobody was effectively reigning in these excesses. They became, in essence, self policing. Now, take this example and extrapolate it towards reality as it pertains to heroes. There are super teams which are very successful. The Fantastic Four, the Avengers, the Justice League before it collapsed. And those are just the teams known in the United States. Did the Soviet Union have a super team? Who knows?" he does, but he's not telling. "And that leaves us with the biggest problem of them all. Super teams that are dependent on a national government are expected to follow the social code of that government, even if that social code is repugnant to others. That, clearly, cannot stand."

    The mention of Red Skull... it openly and visibly breaks Sam's flow, looking at Megan with an expression that is... it's on the very controlled side of neutral. Bear sits up quickly and places a paw on his lap, which prompts a fond scritch between the dog's ears. As soon as the moment happens, it's gone.

    "There are many advantages and many pitfalls to anonymous testimony. But we allow it in certain cases already. If the hero's name is known to the organisation to which they belong, and the organisation is properly certified, then why not can that hero testify under his anonymous public persona, if the organisation will warrant their actual identity? Would this start an arms race? I ask you this, what if this was regulated, on an international basis, through the UN?"

Sanjeev Bassi has posed:
    As he continued to listen to the students' reasoning, Sanjeev smiled remaining still in his seat as he did so. It was always interesting to see how people thought. Colette also seemed to have an interesting teaching style by feeding tidbits and thoughts into the discussion and letting the students try to figure out their own voices in the topic at hand. It seemed oddly satisfying to watch. Though, he did miss his research.

    Raising his hand for a moment, he interrupted. "If you'll permit me to add a thought to the discussion for the students to think about as well, Ms. O'Connail?" he asked as he let his hand fall back to join its partner in his lap.

    "What about the question of enforcement?" he asked as his chestnut-hued gaze passed from one student to the other. "Current International Law is held together by the fact that countries willingly bind themselves to it. However, there is no real power in a governing body higher than a country. The system is based on countries with more power or leverage using soft power to get other countries in line. The UN doesn't actually have much enforcement power." His gaze rested on Samuel for a moment before it passed on. "Now, superheroes have more power than a country's military in some capacity or other. Superheroes can watch over countries and be better enforcement at that point. This adds into Ms. O'Connail's earlier question to you all about licensing. But, then who watches the heroes? Does it not seem like that system would have the same issue as the countries did previously?"

    "Food for thought," he added with a smile.

Christine Lake has posed:
"What makes you so sure that policies and regulations and rules and training will keep people safe from rogue metahumans?" Christine asks Sam. "After all we have all of those for police officers, and there's still police officers who abuse their authority, use excessive force, not to mention outright corruption. And yet, for all these kinds of solutions that you're suggesting, police officers that break them are more often than not given a paid suspension, maybe a mark in their record. That's hardly punshment. The ones that do get punished usually get lesser sentences than a civilian in similar circumstances would get. So, regulation isn't the end all solution. If someone thinks that 'the rules' are getting in their way, they're just going to find a way *around* the rules, requiring new rules that someone else will try to get around, and on and on. What's more important is what's inside a person; their moral outlook. That keeps them from abusing power, not the rules that get imposed on them."

Alton Schmidt has posed:
"Well...the current system dosn't work, because family is more important than putting the bad guys away. But failure to put the bad guys away doesn't serve the justice those heroes are trying to uphold. Hell, there was an article in the paper a couple weeks ago about some guys that had their case dismissed because the hero wasn't allowed to testify. They shot an old lady the next day, and since the cops picked them up the next day...well, they're incarcerated now. But that old lady didn't have to die to protect that hero's family. Yet she did."

As for who would become heroes if they could? Alton only smiles. "Everyone likes to think they'd be a hero, if given the chance. But you never know who you are until you've been tested. Until it's your life and your skin on the line."

"Who watches the Watchmen? Presumably, the heroes are self regulating. These are typically people of high moral standards. If they see one of their own slipping down a slippery slope, they're likely to speak up rather quickly. The idea of ALL of them going corrupt at once is anathema to the idea of being heroes in the first place. If he were still alive, and Superman was headed to a bad place, surely Wonder Woman or Batman or Flash would notice and go, "Uh hey, you're not on the right path.""

Vivian Vision has posed:
"Actually I think in some cases it took almost a hundred years for the idea of a medical license to catch on," Vivian points out, barely seeming to give the new teacher entering a second glance. "Doctors did not simply self organise. But that is beside the point." She nods in agreement as Sanjeev points out the flaws with the UN. "Honestly? I would not say people in general can be trusted to direct the powers of a group of superheroes. Even when you look at existing groups like the Avengers they simply act to treat symptoms of societal ills rather than preventing them from happening." Her attention turns back to Colette. "In answer to Miss O'Connails question.. Hypothetically if I had extraordinary abilities it would depend on what they were, the situation I was in and countless other factors. Tentatively I would not wish someone else to experience the same loss I have and believe I'd act to stop that. But if someone was stealing bread I'd have no interest in preventing the crime."

Colette O'Connail has posed:
    Colette gives the faintest shake of her head, smiling to herself. "Perhaps everyone likes to think they'd be a hero, Alton - but none of you seemed all that eager to put your hands up. That's okay. Let's consider this notion of self policing. You asked who watches the watchmen. Do you know the original answer to that question? Juvenal. Qui custodiet ipsos custodes. There /was/ no answer. The point is that the first people a villain will try to corrupt is the heroes."

    "Evidence requires trust in the source of the evidence," Colette points out. "And anonymity creates doubt. Imagine the advantage to a villain of retaining a heroic identity in their spare time. If Samuel's notion of a planetary mandate came to pass, would masks even be necessary? Police officers don't generally wear masks. But doesn't self-regulation require oversight? How can we be sure that Superheroes would self-regulate fairly and in ways that work for everyone, including those without powers?"

    Colette moves away from the desk to stand by Sanjeev. "Mister Bassi, if I can bring your areas of expertise in here. Now I know you're more hard science than sociology or ethics, but do you think that the superhero question is actually something unique, or does technology provide the exact same problems? 3D printing, nanotechnology, CRISPR, quantum foam manipulation... we're entering an era where individuals with relatively small budgets will be able to achieve things it would previously have taken governments to achieve, even if they don't have powers. How does society survive?"

M'gann M'orzz has posed:
     "The UN has several members who are actively engaging in human rights abuses and ethnic cleansing. And those are the only ones we know about. And I /would/ be a hero. I want to make the world a better place." Megan folds her arms, pointed look scanning across the other people in the room. Yeah, she's not really happy right now. At the minute, humanity kinda seems like it sucks. "Given the right chances, anyone can change the world. Heroes operate outside the status quo, and that's important."

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    What indeed can be done about rogue meta humans? Those who do not fall in line and wreak havoc? Assassination! Assassination is the answer. One person, trained and equipped to kill or destroy any meta who became a problem, one person with absolute power, the power over life or death, as unto a god as they... Whoah! Sam actually blinks and shakes his head. Where did /that/ thought come from?! His mind doesn't work that way! Does it? Even Bear is confused, looking up at his human with worry.

    The conversation appears to have moved on, and Sam is momentarily utterly lost. "Corruption is a seven stage process. The target must not be aware they are being corrupted until stage six." It comes out before he has to engage his brain to mouth filter. Another series of blinks as the teenager looks around. "I'm sorry, where were we?"

Christine Lake has posed:
"I'd be a hero, too," Christine chimes in and nods to Megan. And she remembers the feeling she got helping to save that trapped driver by shrinking and turning off the ignition to the wrecked delivery turck before it exploded or caught fire. "Even without powers, we all have to help keep each other safe and protected."

Sam's outburst gets a strange look from Christine, and she blinks a bit. Bear's not acting up, so it's probably not anythign to be concerned about. Probably.

Sanjeev Bassi has posed:
    Having been addressed directly, Sanjeev's eyebrows raised for a moment, but he recovered fluidly. "The same way it always has, Miss O'Connail," he replied easily with a wry smile. "Tenuously at best. People with abilities can be placed in the same timeline structure has human technology in this way." Pausing for a moment, he spread his hands apart. "Think about it this way. The sword gave way to the firearm. A weapon that required a great deal of training in order to be truly lethal lost its place in regular usage compared to a weapon that required less training. As the ability to kill human beings became easier, we lost the training time that was usually used to instill morals in those who could do the killing. We reached a point in history when the world could be blown apart in the push of a button."

    Realizing that he had gone into a rather depressing kind of topic, he coughed into his hand and continued in a different way. "That being said, even regular technology on the cutting edge and earlier can be applied in similar fashions: cloning technology brought ethical concerns. Should cloning be done on humans? How does consenting to such a thing even work? There are quite a lot. But, I think now you all better understand the need for Ethics Classes. I expect to hear less complaints about how boring they are." He laughed. "Don't worry, they were boring to me, too. But, you only really realize how important they are later on."

    Glancing at Colette, he concluded. "So, yes. There is no real answer just in the same way, Ms. O'Connail. Right now, the balance is that there are more ethical people than not."

Alton Schmidt has posed:
"Masks will always be necessary. The first thing any smart villain will do is attack the soft targets around the hero...the people that don't have powers of their own. Why shoot the guy whom bullets bounce off of when you can shoot his mom and deal a permenant blow to that hero that will last long after you've been thrown in jail? Part of a logical and systamtic way to discourage heroes in the first place...kill their friends and family off, ASAP. Make their emotional connections become torment." It sounds perfectly logical to him, anyway.

"Best of all, most heroes don't kill. And, because of the can't testify in court thing, the villain might shoot your mom, get the charges dropped because the hero can't testify, then come back and shoot his dad, laughing all the way. Repeat cycle. But couldn't you get secret service for your family? Sure, but the non powered people you hire will fail miserably against an enemy with powers."

And then he suddenly wheels to look at Sam. "...must not be aware until stage 6? ...I heard that."

Vivian Vision has posed:
"Isn't there a famous quote, everyone is necessarily the hero of his own life story," Vivian muses or seems to muse at least. At least part of her mind is idly reading books on philosophy and ethics even as the discussion progresses. "Even trying to do the right thing can lead to a disaster." Her doodling stops and she fixes Samuel with a suspicious glance. "Wouldn't it be more important to discuss if this society should survive first? After all we have rampent inequality, pollution, waste and violence. It's not unrealistic to believe that whatever comes after could be an improvement."

Colette O'Connail has posed:
    "Megan, /is/ it important that heroes operate outside the status quo, or is that a reflection on our society?" Colette asks. "Imagine how the earth may look in a few hundred years, when this is not new, but is a part of our society. Wouldn't you hope that groups of heroes acting outside the status quo was no longer necessary? That we had found a way for those people with greater powers to work together for the betterment of society in a unified way, and with a unified purpose? Such a society might have no need of armies or police forces, just a single unified group with the force of tradition and experience to help guide it. Answering to government, but with established practises that avoid the risks of interference from above. Then, Alton, secrecy is no more necessary for them as it is for the police forces today."

    A dream - or is it? M'gann's knowledge of Martian history should be sufficient to give her an example of a society that worked in just that way. Colette's description fits the Manhunters to a tee.

    "Or perhaps we should just leave it in mister Morgan's hands," Colette says with an arched eyebrow and an obvious grin. "He seems to have worked this all out in advance."

    Colette gives Sanjeev a nod, and heads back over to sit on the edge of the desk. "'...more ethical people than not.'", she repeats. "And I think that brings us full circle. Can an individual intending to act ethically be sure that they have it right? No doubt some of you will have seen the news reports of a bank robbery a day or two ago foiled by a couple of apparently brand new heroes who must have been about your age. Helping save the world before they're even allowed to drive! For all we know it could have been Christine and Megan, who both admit they'd be heroes if they could. Would such individuals have enough experience of the world to know they are making the right decisions? Not just for other people, but also for themselves. But how would they get the experience in any other way? What's the solution, people?"

Christine Lake has posed:
"Be kind to each other. Love each other. Take care of each other." That's Christine's response to Colette's questoin. "I mean...regardless of what religion you follow, even if you don't follow any, those are pretty much the universal core beliefs of all faiths, right?" She holds out her hands, indicating that she doesn't really have any answers and is just guessing. "I mean, maybe it's not about creating the most break-proof set of rules and guidelines. Maybe it's about simplifying and getting to the basics that we can all agree on."

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "Killing people has gotten harder than it was in the time of the sword, Mister Bassi, not easier." It's not quite a non-sequitur, but Sam's voice has lost its smooth, even tones. This is the voice of someone trying to make a point through a severe migraine, or while utterly confused. "In the time of the sword, your enemy was attacking you. You were defending yourself. When the battle was over, you mourned your friends and went on with life. Ever since firearms became accurate, people have been asked to kill other people who aren't even aware of them, who have done nothing to them except being the wrong nationality, have the wrong ideology or are supposed to have the wrong ideology because they have the wrong nationality. People still aren't inherently more likely to kill people they don't know, but now they are being trained to do it regardless. We can train people how to kill, Mister Bassi, but we still haven't figured out what to do with them afterwards." The last bit comes out through clenched teeth, and Sam stands suddenly. Bear scrambles to his paws and begins to head towards the door, butting everyone out of the way who might be standing between his human and the exit.

    "My apologies, I'm not feeling well. If you will excuse me..."

Alton Schmidt has posed:
"Well, that cop said he hopes the senior heroes find the younger ones and take them under their wing. He's not wrong, really. Let the older heroes train the next generation." It seems a sensible solution. And he's actually kinda hoping exactly that happens at some point. But he's gotta do enough saving of the day to get the attention of the older heroes to begin with.

"If killing is easy, that is why heroes choose not to do it. They know, more than anyone, how precious life is. And most of them are compassionate enough to understand redemption is a thing."

M'gann M'orzz has posed:
5r
     Megan nods at Colette's description, biting her lip. That... does indeed ring several bells in her head. What's running through Sam's mind, though. Well, it makes her a little green. iN the unpleasant nauseous way. She rummages in her backpack for a moment before mouthing 'girl trouble' to the TA and ducking out of the class before Sam can even get up. Time to go find a bathroom to hyperventilate in.

Vivian Vision has posed:
"Christine that's unfortunately not the cause. The Aztecs for example felt their religious duty was to feed the gods with human blood, thereby keeping the Sun alive. I don't think there really is a best or most ethical solution to any situation. But at the very least we can try aim to find a least bad one through compromise and ideally," Viv glances again at Samuel "Not training people to kill at all."

Colette O'Connail has posed:
"Excused, Samuel," Colette says. "See the school nurse if you need to." She suspects he won't, that sounds a lot like he's suffering from PTSD rather than an upset tummy. An interesting data point. "You too, Megan. Well, I think we can wrap this up. A few last words from me and unless anyone wishes to stay and ask questions, I'll let you all go. "

    Turning to the rest of the class, Colette paraphrases Christine. "Be kind, love and take care of each other. Thank you Christine. That's the basis for an ethical system, but isn't sufficient for one. Reality just isn't that simple. Yes, life is the source of all value and should be preserved. Unlike Mister Bassi, I just love ethics, but I won't bore you with a proof of that. The difficulty comes when there is no single clear path to being kind. Consider the Joker. Would it be kinder to kill him, rather than imprison him? It could be argued that Batman is endangering multiple lives every time he risks the Joker breaking out of Arkham yet again, and killing him would simply cost one life. These are not easy questions. I expect you all to address these ethical issues in your essays, by the way."

    "Short term measures," Colette says to Alton as she gathers her stuff together. "But yes. It's a shame that there isn't more of that attitude amongst the heroes, though of course those established heroes may have their hands a bit full to be teachers. I was making a similar point to one of them myself the other day, but I think he needs a little more persuading. Class dismissed. "